futuramafandomcom-20200222-history
User blog:Ellipses485/On the potential merge with the Infosphere
I can't believe that I'm actually writing a blog... I hate the entire concept of blogs! Ah well, this is, I have decided, probably the best way to address the situation. In regards to the recent discussion over whether a merge with the Infosphere is something that should or even could be done, I am, as I have mentioned before, conflicted. I really respect and admire the autonomy and community of the Infosphere and the various Futurama community sites out there on the internet, and I completely understand why they are less than welcoming to Wikia's Futurama Wiki (that's us). I see only one viable option for the competitiveness, albeit I think merely perceived competitiveness, to end; a partial merge of our content to their, the Infosphere's, site. I suppose I'd be alright doing this if we could find a way to do so, but the decision is not up to me, and even if it was there are a few reasons why I think in the end I would not do so, they break conveniently down into the following three points: *First, much of the content here, and some there, would be left by the wayside, and it would be unfair to everyone who contributed to either wiki. I'd guess that much of the move would be some content, a few sections or a page here and there that they lack or is poorly developed, that would be adopted by them, but mostly our wiki would be abandoned. This isn't too bad, as more content than anyone probably even realizes is duplicated (after all we have the same source material, and there isn't a whole lot of ways to record some information). But it should be noted that lots of people have worked hard on pages that wouldn't survive any merge. *Secondly, if the various reincarnations of the Wikia's Futurama Wiki of the last few years have revealed anything, it is that there will always be a new person or group of people who will attempt to take on the project of bettering the wiki. But I think that the amazingness of Futurama will always inspire others to try to continue the wiki, even if they give up after a few months and leave the site for some one else. Svip has pointed out that other wikis like the Homestar Runner Wiki have succeeded in leaving Wikia, but there are new wikis that sprout up and they seem to be plagued by a tendency to plagiaries content from other sources (our own sorted past with plagiarism is evidence enough for that). So I think there is something to be said for continuing our work here, at least to ensure that the Wikia's Futurama project is a quality site that has fair standards. I don't know whether those guys at PEEL or other fan communities will understand or accept this argument, (some of them seem to be a bit over-sure of themselves and their beliefs at times) but I feel it bears mentioning here just the same. *Finally, is my rational for even starting to edit a wiki in the first place. I don't know if this is a sentiment that is shared by anyone else, but I didn't register a username and start editing here for any other reason than I wanted to learn. I'd say that one of my strengths is taking diverse and even chaotic information and organizing it into something that is understandable and entertaining, and the Futurama Wiki was a perfect project for me when I started out here. I honestly don't care if anyone likes or even views the wiki, I enjoy the prospect of taking the show and trying to make sense of it. Add to that the opportunity to learn how to edit wiki code, and I am glad I decided to edit here instead of at the Infosphere. Granted I don't know how much I like the system on Wikia, but had I started helping out at the Infosphere, I'd never have learned as much as I did. Although I don't know if this is a reason to avoid a merge at this point, it was something that came to me as I was thinking about this, and it seems to fit. So if my train of thought has led me to the place I was hoping to get when I started typing, I don't really care whether or not we end up merging, but I would tend to think that instead of moving our contributions there, we should continue to build our site into something different and noteworthy (obviously without stealing content or ideas from anywhere else if we can avoid it). If that means we'll continue being scorned and made fun of by the online Futurama community, that's fine with me. Honestly I really don't care, because I tend not to be the type of person who spends time in forums or blogging... (this doesn't count). Naturally I'd like their respect, but as I've said I don't particularly care whether anyone even comes here; for me the reason I contribute is in the experience not in the goal. Category:Inactive blogs